Bank of America Probed by NY Over Mortgage-Backed Securities

Bank of America Corp., the second-biggest U.S. bank by assets, is under investigation by the New York Attorney General’s Office over the bundling of mortgage loans into securities.

New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, who sued JPMorgan Chase & Co. last year over losses on mortgage bonds, is probing the purchase, securitization and underwriting of home loans and mortgage securities, the bank said in a regulatory filing.

The bank, based in Charlotte, North Carolina, said it “continues to cooperate fully” with the investigation. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating practices by the bank’s Merrill Lynch unit related to collateralized debt obligations, including valuation and marketing, according to the filing.

Schneiderman is the co-chairman of a state and federal group established last year to investigate misconduct in the mortgage-securities market. The group includes the U.S. Justice Department and the SEC.

New York sued JPMorgan in October, claiming Bear Stearns, the investment bank acquired by JPMorgan, defrauded investors. Schneiderman, who also sued Credit Suisse Group AG, said the JPMorgan case would be a template for other actions against banks.

James Freedland, a spokesman for Schneiderman, declined to comment on the bank’s filing.